On Miller’s second pitch of the game, Los Angeles leadoff hitter Carl Crawford smoked a line drive back up the middle, directly at the Cardinals’ rookie starting pitcher.

The ball caught Miller’s right elbow—his pitching elbow—flush and bounded into left field far enough that Crawford was able to easily cruise into second base with a double. (GIF via Dodgers Nation)

Manager Mike Matheny and the Cardinals’ trainer immediately came out of the dugout, and it didn’t take long for them to decide Miller’s night was done.

The Cardinals officially called the injury a right elbow contusion, and X-rays were negative, which is great news for the promising youngster. There’s no timetable for when he'll pitch again, though. Losing Miller for any extended period of time would be a big issue for the Cardinals, who opened the night two games behind the Pirates in the N.L. Central. Miller, 22, had a stellar 2.89 ERA in his first 21 starts and is averaging 9.8 strikeouts per nine innings.

The most likely candidates to replace Miller in the rotation would seem to be a trio of rookies—left-hander Tyler Lyons or right-handers Michael Wacha and Carlos Martinez. The latter two are highly regarded prospects. All three have pitched in the majors this season and all three are currently in Class AAA Memphis. Lyons has the most big league experience, with a 5.35 ERA in seven starts. Martinez is scheduled to start for Memphis on Thursday.

Rookie right-hander Michael Blazek came on in relief of Miller. He allowed an infield single to Yasiel Puig and walked Andre Ethier, but got Skip Schumaker to pop out with the bases loaded to end the inning and keep the Dodgers off the scoreboard.

Jake Westbrook, who was scheduled to start Thursday’s game against LA, came out to open the second inning for the Cardinals. This was Westbrook’s first regular-season relief appearance since April 19, 2004; he threw seven perfect innings against the Detroit Tigers that day for the Cleveland Indians.

Wednesday’s outing didn’t go quite so well. Westbrook gave up five hits and a pair of walks (one intentional) as the Dodgers scored six runs to take control of the game. LA went on to win, 13-4.